Having addressed the question of why you should build your own cross-border e-commerce website, SEO for self-built sites naturally becomes the crucial next step. This article aims to serve as a concise guide designed to boost the effectiveness of your SEO promotion efforts. While technical tactics are undoubtedly important, I prefer to approach this from a holistic perspective, covering several core dimensions such as technical architecture optimization, high-quality content creation, user experience enhancement, and the development of authoritative backlinks.

Through these 49 actionable strategies, website operators and SEO professionals can construct a robust and sustainable optimization framework—effectively boosting website visibility in search results, attracting more targeted traffic, and ultimately achieving a dual increase in conversion rates and brand influence. It is hoped that this serves as a practically valuable roadmap within the realm of digital marketing.

1. Set up Google Search Console or Baidu Webmaster Tools

Google Search Console (https://search.google.com/)
Baidu Webmaster Tools (https://ziyuan.baidu.com/)

Functions:
(1) View which keywords and pages generate the most clicks.
(2) Submit sitemaps or request recrawls.
(3) Identify and fix site errors.

2. Set Up a Google Analytics Account

Google Analytics (https://analytics.google.com/)

Google Analytics provides a means to measure the Return on Investment (ROI) of your SEO promotion strategies. It tracks metrics such as the sources of website traffic, which pages visitors viewed, the average session duration, and the number of pages viewed per visit.

Associate Google Analytics with Search Console to derive greater value from both tools. Enabling data sharing between the two—allowing information to flow freely between them—enhances the insights you can gain.

4. Install and Configure SEO Plugins

Install SEO plugins—such as Yoast SEO, Rank Math SEO, and others—and configure the necessary functions and features to optimize your site for search engines.

5. Generate and Submit an XML Sitemap

Sitemaps are crucial for helping search engines understand the structure of your website. They also instruct search engines on which pages to crawl and point them toward the canonical version of each page.

6. Create a robots.txt File

A robots.txt file is a plain text file that tells search engines which parts of your website they are permitted—and not permitted—to access. You can use this file to prevent crawlers from indexing duplicate content or pages that offer no value to search results.

7. Conduct a Website Audit Using Screaming Frog

Screaming Frog allows you to perform a comprehensive analysis of your website’s content, identifying issues such as structured data errors, broken links, hidden text, and more.

8. Ensure Your Website Is Indexed

Errors involving “noindex” tags introduced during the development phase can render your site invisible to search engines. Once the site officially goes live, you must revert these tags to “index.”

9. Analyze Content from Top-Ranking, Relevant Websites

Any content that already ranks within at least the first two pages of the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) serves as an ideal starting point for your SEO content research. Tools such as Google Analytics or Ahrefs Site Explorer can be used for this purpose.

10. Identify Your Competitors

Ranking in the SERPs is a zero-sum game, meaning you must outperform your competitors to secure a spot on the first page of search results. Understanding your competitors’ keyword rankings will help you formulate a more detailed and effective SEO strategy.

11. Create a Keyword Database

Utilizing keyword research tools, create a keyword list and update the database periodically. Sort the keywords and prioritize those most relevant to your conversion goals.

12. Conduct Competitive Keyword Analysis

Identify keywords for which your competitors rank well. The more competitive terms you analyze within this set, the more valuable your analysis will be.

Search engines, forums, online communities, social media platforms (such as Weibo and WeChat)—scour these channels to uncover keywords linked to the specific questions, needs, and pain points of your target audience. Understanding the questions potential customers are asking helps ensure your content aligns perfectly with visitor needs. Simply put, question-based keywords are an ideal way to drive traffic to your website articles—provided you offer targeted, high-value solutions.

14. Target Intent

If keyword research answers the question of what potential customers are searching for, then search intent answers the question of why they are searching.

15. Prioritize Keywords by Volume and Difficulty

Search volume is a metric indicating how many queries a specific keyword receives within a single month. Keyword difficulty measures the level of competition involved in ranking for a particular search term. In most cases, high-volume keywords are difficult to rank for; the higher the difficulty score, the harder it is to outrank your competitors. Evaluating keyword difficulty helps you decide whether a specific term is worth pursuing. While—in the long run—no keyword is truly impossible to rank for, some terms are so fiercely competitive that achieving a ranking in the short to medium term is virtually impossible. Long-tail keywords offer an excellent strategy for attracting searchers who have more precise and specific needs.

16. Build Keyword Groups Through Semantic Association

Create semantically related keywords to complement the terms in your existing keyword library—that is, words or phrases that are conceptually linked to one another. This practice helps Google establish connections between semantically related topics and determine the relevance of your webpage’s content to specific search queries.

A quick way to do this is by utilizing Google’s “Related searches” feature: simply enter your “seed” keyword into the search bar and scroll down to the very bottom of the search results page.

17. Integrate Keyword Groups

Once you have compiled a list of keyword groups, the next step is to map them to your existing content wherever appropriate. Avoid the temptation to shoehorn keywords into unrelated content solely for the sake of appearing in search results. Doing so will only disappoint and frustrate searchers who arrive looking for answers, and ultimately, it will not help your rankings.

18. Repeat Keyword Research

As with most content-related activities, keyword research is not a one-time SEO task. You should periodically revisit, refine, and update your keyword library—paying particular attention to avoiding excessive keyword duplication.

19. Create New Content Based on Keywords

Write excellent content and naturally incorporate your researched keywords.

20. Update or Delete Outdated Content

When it comes to content, sometimes more isn’t necessarily better. If content on your website has failed to rank or generate traffic for an extended period, you typically have two options: improve it or delete it. The overall quality of a website depends on the quality of its individual pages. Often, pruning your content will improve your website’s overall SEO health.

21. Enhancing Readability Through Formatting

When visitors click through to a page from the SERP, the first thing they do is scan it to see if it provides the information they are looking for. It is crucial to make it easy for searchers to find the content they need.

You can make your content easy to scan in the following ways:
(1) Use clear, rather than overly embellished, headings.
(2) Break up long paragraphs of text.
(3) Provide bulleted and numbered lists.
(4) Include images that clarify concepts.
(5) Use bold text and block formatting to guide the reader’s eye.

22. Enriching Article Content

A picture is worth a thousand words; content that effectively combines text and visuals is more likely to appeal to potential customers and can enhance user engagement. Consider incorporating the following types of media to create a richer user experience:
(1) Data
(2) Images
(3) Videos
(4) Infographics

23. Keep Content Updated

Keeping your content updated is just as important as creating it in the first place.

24. Write Evergreen Content

Data from Ahrefs indicates that the average age of content ranking in the top 10 search results is two years. This means that creating “evergreen” content—content with a sufficiently long shelf life—can boost a page’s authority in search rankings, thereby maximizing the benefits derived from organic links.

25. Optimize Page Title Tags

Title tags tell search engines and searchers what a page is about. To make the most of your page titles, ensure that:
(1) Every page has a title.
(2) Each title is unique.
(3) The title includes relevant keywords.
(4) The page title is descriptive and accurate.
(5) The title length is between 50 and 60 characters to avoid being truncated in search results.

26. Fix Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions appear beneath the page title in search results. In addition to having an accurate and enticing title, a meta description serves to summarize the content a searcher can expect to find on the page. Although meta descriptions are not a direct ranking factor, the summary of information they provide helps encourage searchers to click through. When optimizing meta descriptions, be sure to include your primary keywords; since keywords within the description are highlighted in bold, they stand out at a glance, allowing searchers to immediately recognize that the content is relevant to their query.

Certain social networks also pull in meta descriptions. If there is no description available to display, those viewing the shared link may miss the main point. Conversely, a compelling meta description can help drive social media engagement and shares. Search engines like Google will truncate meta descriptions that exceed 160 characters; therefore, aiming for a length between 110 and 150 characters is a safe and reliable approach.

27. Check H1 Tags

The H1 tag identifies the main heading of the content. Unlike the page title that appears in search results, the H1 tag is displayed only on the page itself. Key points to check:
(1) Use one H1 per page. Having more than one H1 on a page sends mixed signals regarding the topic, which may negatively impact that page’s ranking.
(2) Include keywords in the H1.

28. Conduct WDF*IDF Analysis

The art of SEO now revolves around creating unique text. Exclusive content—distinct from competitors in terms of copywriting and keyword usage—is a key factor in standing out from the competition. WDF*IDF is a method used to determine whether a page’s keyword density is excessive.

29. Optimize Images

Whenever possible, use formats such as WebP and SVG to compress file sizes while maintaining image quality. Refine filenames and Alt tags; since search engines cannot “see” visual content, they attempt to interpret it by reading the filenames and Alt tags.

Ensure that filenames and Alt tags are accurate and descriptive, and include secondary keywords in both. Google does not recognize underscores (_); therefore, use hyphens in filenames whenever possible. Alt tags do not require any special characters to separate words.

30. Improve Internal Linking

Internal links enhance the user experience by presenting other relevant content that visitors may find interesting. Furthermore, internal links can breathe new life into older content that may have become buried within archives.

The anchor text of internal links provides context—both for search engines and visitors—helping them understand how specific pieces of content relate to one another within the website’s broader structure.

31. Identify and Resolve Keyword Cannibalization

There is currently no one-size-fits-all solution for resolving keyword cannibalization. It may be necessary to merge similar pages, delete outdated content, or modify the target keywords for certain pages to differentiate them more clearly.

32. Creating SEO-Friendly URLs

The URL is the very first thing search engines see regarding a page; consequently, it has the power to either aid or hinder your SEO efforts. An SEO-friendly URL helps search engines crawl pages and understand their content. SEO-friendly URLs should be both descriptive and concise, typically adhering to the following requirements:
(1) Include a keyword to boost rankings and click-through rates (CTR).
(2) Use hyphens (rather than underscores) to separate words.
(3) Reflect the content’s hierarchical structure.

Search engines generally impose a rough crawling limit—specifically, around 150 links per page. Furthermore, critical links should not be implemented using Flash or Java.

34. Respond to HARO Queries

HARO stands for “Help a Reporter Out.” It is a platform that connects journalists in the traditional news media industry with the general public or subject-matter experts. It serves a dual purpose: providing journalists with a wealth of news, stories, information, and sources, while simultaneously offering companies opportunities for public relations exposure. HARO connects journalists and content creators with subject-matter experts who can serve as credible sources for the content they are producing. By responding to these pitches, you gain exposure for your business as well as backlinks from news sources. Sign up to receive daily email alerts, and actively look for opportunities to contribute in order to secure backlinks and boost your search rankings.

Use tools like ScrapeBox to identify missing or broken links; then, proactively reach out to the respective site owners and generously offer to provide the appropriate replacement links. In most cases, website owners are more than happy to make the necessary updates.

36. Set Up and Optimize Google My Business

Google My Business is a platform that allows businesses to manage how their profiles appear in local search queries. Even if you do not serve customers locally, maintaining a GMB account is an effective way to establish authority on Google and improve your overall SEO.

37. Use HTTPS

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is the secure version of the HTTP protocol, enabling the secure transmission of data between a web browser and the website it connects to. HTTPS allows for the secure transfer of sensitive data, such as credit card numbers. Since security is a top priority for Google, they have incorporated it as a ranking factor. Additionally, using HTTPS enhances visitors’ sense of security and fosters brand trust.

38. Check Core Web Vitals

Starting in the spring of 2021, Core Web Vitals will influence search rankings. They primarily address the following questions:
(1) How fast does the page load?
(2) How quickly does the page become stable?
(3) How responsive are the interactive elements on the page?

39. Create and Optimize Content for Mobile Devices

In 2018, Google introduced mobile-first indexing. This means that when crawling websites, Google prioritizes the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking purposes. If a website is not optimized for mobile devices, it will not rank well in search results.

40. Find and Fix Crawl Errors

Crawl errors prevent search engines from viewing a website’s content. If a search engine cannot crawl a specific page on your site, that page naturally cannot rank. Crawl errors are easy to identify within the Coverage Report in Google Search Console. Fix all errors identified in this report, and continue to monitor Search Console to address any new issues as they arise.

41. Check Canonical Tags

Content Management Systems (CMS) often automatically generate multiple URLs for the exact same page content. Regardless of whether these additional pages technically exist, search engines interpret each distinct URL as a separate page, leading to confusion and the perception of “duplicate” content.
A Canonical Tag is an HTML element that tells search engines which specific URL represents the primary version of a page—the one that should be displayed in search results.

42. Add Structured Data

Structured Data is a type of code that helps search engines better understand your content and enhances how it is displayed within Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

43. Check for Duplicate Versions of Your Website

If visitors can access your content via multiple URL variations (without being redirected), it means that search engines can also access multiple versions of your website. Having multiple active versions of a site visible to search engines can lead to duplicate content issues and dilute your ranking authority. Prioritize implementing 301 redirects to consolidate all variations into a single primary format (the canonical URL).

44. Check URLs Using Google Search Console

The URL Inspection Tool in Google Search Console runs diagnostics on specific pages and generates a report. If a particular page experiences a sudden drop in organic traffic, this tool is an excellent place to start troubleshooting the issue.

Search engines value a high-quality user experience; if a website contains broken links, it signals a poor user experience, which can negatively impact your rankings in the SERPs. Ahrefs offers a free broken link checker that generates a list of broken links found within your website, as well as a list of broken links pointing to your website from other places on the web.

46. Check Page Depth

Page depth refers to the number of clicks required to reach a specific page on a website starting from the homepage. Any page directly accessible from the homepage is considered to be “one click deep.” The further a page is removed from the homepage, the lower its perceived importance. From an SEO perspective, any content located more than three clicks deep within the site structure will be extremely difficult to rank. If Google evaluates a page’s “popularity” based on the quantity (and quality) of links pointing to it, then burying content deep within the site sends a clear signal to search engines that this content lacks value.

From a user experience standpoint, if visitors have to struggle to locate deeply buried content, they are highly likely to give up and look elsewhere for what they need. Flattening your website’s structure will help ensure that page depth remains within a reasonable range.

47. Identify and Fix Orphan Pages

Every page on your website should contain at least one link pointing to another page. If a page is “orphaned”—meaning it has no inbound links from other pages on the site—it cannot be crawled by search engines. Pages that cannot be crawled by search engines will not be indexed.

48. Conduct CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) Analysis via Hotjar

Data points such as heatmaps, visitor recordings, conversion reports, and form analytics provide a data-driven foundation for improving conversion rates and enhancing the website’s user experience.

49. Build Relationships with Influencers via BuzzStream and Social Media

Identify and follow potential influencers; BuzzStream will automatically surface key information about them—such as contact details, website statistics, and social media metrics—to facilitate relationship-building.